Former United Kingdom PM Rishi Sunak Highlights India’s Unique Position in Global Technology Transformation at India AI Impact Summit 2026

From Bletchley to Bharat: Global AI Leaders Chart the Next Frontier of Human-Centric Intelligence
India has Built the Foundations to Scale AI for 1.4 billion People: Rishi Sunak

Surya Ganguli, Professor of AI, Neuroscience, and Physics at Stanford University Outlines Three Frontiers For Advancing Intelligence: Data Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, and the Melding of Brains and Machines

The India AI Summit 2026 which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi today at Bharat Mandapam,New Delhi witnessed two compelling keynote addresses that framed artificial intelligence not merely as a technological breakthrough, but as the defining force shaping economies, societies, and the human condition itself.

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opened the session by reflecting on the rapid acceleration of AI and the responsibility that comes with it. Drawing on the origins of the first AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, he underscored the importance of balancing innovation with safety.

“Artificial intelligence can do many things,” he noted, “but it will never replace the wonder of human experience.” Yet its transformative power, he emphasized, is unprecedented. From the telephone taking 75 years to reach 100 million users to ChatGPT reaching that milestone in just two months, the pace of change is rewriting history.

Sunak highlighted India’s unique position in this global transformation. With its digital public infrastructure, Aadhaar, UPI, and health accounts, India has built the foundations to scale AI for 1.4 billion people. He pointed to the country’s thriving startup ecosystem, its growing unicorn base, and innovations like Sarvam AI as evidence that the “real race” in AI is not just about frontier breakthroughs, but widespread adoption.

Citing global challenges, from food security to healthcare access and education gaps, Sunak argued that AI offers solutions at scale. Whether empowering farmers, supporting maternal healthcare, or delivering personalized learning, AI has the potential to “raise the floor for humanity,” creating unprecedented equality of opportunity.

The technical depth of the summit was further elevated by Surya Ganguli, Professor of AI, Neuroscience, and Physics at Stanford University, who offered a scientific roadmap for the future of intelligence.

Ganguli highlighted a striking paradox: while AI systems are advancing rapidly, we still lack a fundamental understanding of how they work. At the same time, the human brain, shaped by 500 million years of evolution, remains vastly more data- and energy-efficient than modern AI.

He outlined three frontiers for advancing intelligence: data efficiency, energy efficiency, and the melding of brains and machines.

On data efficiency, Ganguli presented new theoretical breakthroughs explaining neural scaling laws, long observed but poorly understood phenomena governing AI performance. His team’s recent work demonstrates how smarter data selection can dramatically accelerate learning, bending slow power laws into faster exponential gains.

On energy efficiency, he contrasted the human brain’s 20-watt energy consumption with AI systems that can require millions of watts. By studying how biology matches computation to physics, Ganguli proposed a reimagining of the technology stack, from algorithms to quantum hardware, giving rise to what he calls “quantum neuromorphic computing.”

Perhaps most striking was his vision for brain-machine integration. By building digital twins of neural circuits, researchers can decode perception, simulate disease states, and even write precise neural patterns back into the brain. From decoding visual perception in mice to controlling epileptic seizures, this fusion of AI and neuroscience signals a future where intelligence is both better understood and more therapeutically powerful.

Together, the two addresses framed AI not as a distant abstraction, but as an immediate and transformative force. One speaker emphasized global governance, adoption, and human impact; the other laid the scientific foundations required to push beyond today’s models.